''When We First Met'' is a 2018 American
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film directed by
Ari Sandel
Ari Devon Sandel (born September 5, 1974) is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing the short film ''West Bank Story'' (2005), which won the 2006 Academy Award in the category Best Live Action Short Film.
Life and career
Sandel was bor ...
, written by
John Whittington, and starring
Adam DeVine
Adam Patrick Devine (born November 7, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and producer. He is one of the stars and co-creators of the Comedy Central comedy television series ''Workaholics'' and '' Adam Devine's House Par ...
,
Alexandra Daddario
Alexandra Anna Daddario (born March 16, 1986) is an American actress who had her breakthrough portraying Annabeth Chase in the ''Percy Jackson'' film series (2010–2013). In 2021, she starred in the first season of the HBO series ''The White ...
,
Shelley Hennig,
Andrew Bachelor
Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...
and
Robbie Amell
Robert Patrick Amell IV (born April 21, 1988) is a Canadian-American actor and producer. He is best-known for his roles as Stephen Jameson on The CW series ''The Tomorrow People'', Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm on The CW series ''The Flash'', Natha ...
. It was released worldwide on
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
on February 9, 2018.
Plot
Noah Ashby is in love with beautiful Avery Martin after meeting her at a 2014
Halloween party, but she regards him as a friend. Avery meets her fiancé, Ethan, the day after she and Noah met. Three years later, Noah remains distraught at not having been able to win her over.
When he becomes intoxicated at Ethan and Avery's engagement party, Noah winds up in the
photo booth he used with her on their first meeting and drunkenly operates it before falling asleep. Awakening in bed, Noah discovers the photo booth brought him back to the day they met and he resolves to change the events of the day to ensure he and Avery end up together.
Noah uses his pre-existing knowledge of Avery to his advantage in his first attempt to win her over, but Avery and her roommate Carrie Grey suspect him of being a stalker, and he returns to a new version of 2017 where he and Avery do not know each other. For his second attempt traveling back to 2014, Noah follows his friend Max's advice of being a rude alpha male and successfully beds Avery, but he develops a self-absorbed personality and when he returns to the present, his relationship with Avery is purely sexual.
Recognizing that Avery and Ethan are still attracted to each other, Noah has a conversation with Carrie and deduces that Avery is attracted to stable and dependable men. Noah gets a job at Max's company and presents himself in a more mature manner to Avery for his third attempt. When he returns to 2017, he and Avery live in a big house and are engaged.
However, his friendship with Max has soured because he took the senior vice president position that Max was working towards, his job commitments prevent him from spending time with Avery, and Ethan is now distraught over Avery marrying someone else. Following another conversation with Carrie, Noah recognizes that Avery does not love him and she is meant to be with Ethan. He also realizes that, having bonded with Carrie during his time travel adventures, he is meant to be with her.
Traveling back to 2014 for a fourth time, Noah arranges for Avery and Ethan to meet at the Halloween party while he pursues Carrie, whom he discovers he has more in common with than Avery. His actions restore Ethan and Avery's engagement and his friendship with Max, but Noah learns that he did not win Carrie's love and she resumed dating her ex-boyfriend, Phil. Noah finally realizes that he needed to first become friends with Avery in order to meet Carrie, and he travels back one last time to meet Avery the way he did originally. With the present fully restored, Noah initiates a conversation with Carrie at the engagement party and the two begin their own relationship.
Cast
*
Adam DeVine
Adam Patrick Devine (born November 7, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and producer. He is one of the stars and co-creators of the Comedy Central comedy television series ''Workaholics'' and '' Adam Devine's House Par ...
as Noah Ashby
*
Alexandra Daddario
Alexandra Anna Daddario (born March 16, 1986) is an American actress who had her breakthrough portraying Annabeth Chase in the ''Percy Jackson'' film series (2010–2013). In 2021, she starred in the first season of the HBO series ''The White ...
as Avery Martin
*
Shelley Hennig as Carrie Grey
*
Andrew Bachelor
Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...
as Max
*
Robbie Amell
Robert Patrick Amell IV (born April 21, 1988) is a Canadian-American actor and producer. He is best-known for his roles as Stephen Jameson on The CW series ''The Tomorrow People'', Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm on The CW series ''The Flash'', Natha ...
as Ethan
* Dean J. West as Josh
*
Tony Cavalero as the
Angus Young
Angus McKinnon Young (born 31 March 1955) is an Australian musician, best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, songwriter, and only remaining original member of the hard rock band AC/DC. He is known for his energetic performances, schoolbo ...
partygoer
*
Chris Wylde
Chris Wylde (born Chris Noll, August 22, 1976) is an American actor from New Jersey.
Wylde is best known for his roles in the films '' The DUFF'', ''Space Cowboys'', the 2009 horror film '' The Revenant'', the 2017 horror comedy '' The Babysitt ...
as Mr. Costigan
*
Noureen DeWulf
Noureen DeWulf ( née Ahmed) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles in ''West Bank Story'' (2005), ''Ghosts of Girlfriends Past'' (2009), and '' The Back-up Plan'' (2010). She also starred as Lacey on the sitco ...
as Margo
Production
In May 2016,
Ari Sandel
Ari Devon Sandel (born September 5, 1974) is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing the short film ''West Bank Story'' (2005), which won the 2006 Academy Award in the category Best Live Action Short Film.
Life and career
Sandel was bor ...
was set to direct the film from a script by
John Whittington and
Adam DeVine
Adam Patrick Devine (born November 7, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, singer, screenwriter, and producer. He is one of the stars and co-creators of the Comedy Central comedy television series ''Workaholics'' and '' Adam Devine's House Par ...
, while producers on the film are Adam Saunders of Footprint Features,
Mason Novick
Mason Novick (born December 20, 1974) is an American film producer and talent manager based in Los Angeles.
Background
Career
His credits include '' Red Eye'' (2005), '' Juno'' (2007), ''(500) Days of Summer'' (2009) and ''Jennifer's Body'' ( ...
of MXN Entertainment, with Mary Viola and
McG
The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), also known locally as "The 'G", is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. Founded and managed by the Melbourne Cricket Club, it is the largest stadium in the Southern Hem ...
of
Wonderland Sound and Vision
Wonderland Sound and Vision is an American production company founded by director and producer Joseph McGinty Nichol in 2001. It independently develops, produces and finances its own slate of feature films, television and digital projects. The c ...
.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
on the film began in mid-July 2016 in
.
Reception
On the
review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The critical consensus reads: "Much like its protagonist, ''When We First Met'' struggles in the cinematic 'friend zone' -- and will face a slew of viewer breakups before finding much in the way of true love." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 36 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
''Decider'' writer Lea Palmeri said, "DeVine's ability to be charming and endearing shouldn't be underestimated here and you'll be rooting for him before you know it." Ravi Teja of ''Age of the Nerd'' stated that he "carries the whole movie on his shoulders with perfection."
References
External links
*
{{Ari Sandel
2018 romantic comedy films
2018 films
American romantic comedy films
Films directed by Ari Sandel
Films set in 2014
Films set in 2017
Films shot in New Orleans
English-language Netflix original films
Films about time travel
Films with screenplays by John Whittington (screenwriter)
American films about Halloween
Wonderland Sound and Vision films
Films produced by Mason Novick
2010s English-language films
2010s American films